The Importance of Range Protection Laws

Bitter writes on the topic at Shall Not Be Questioned.  We've seen similar situations in Virginia and have written about them here, and here .  Virginia continues to see a migration of people from more populated areas into our rural localities.  Many times, these people complain about shooting ranges near the areas they live, or about neighbors shooting on their own property.  in 2004 former Delegate Bill Janis, at VSSA's request, introduced and worked for passage of a bill that prohibits localities from changing noise ordinances after a range has been approved or a prospective range submits an application.  Unfortunately, many localities try to make prospective ranges go through expensive and onerous processes to open their doors.  When people can't force a range to close it's doors through legislative processes, they will try to bankrupt them in court.  VSSA watches this very closely but it's important that our members let us know when they hear of a local governing board considering shooting restrictions.